Lord Zedd
Lord Zedd is a fictional villain from the TV series ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' who was introduced at the beginning of the show's second season. Unlike Rita Repulsa, the show's original villain, Zedd was a character made specifically for the Power Rangers without any prior counterpart in the Japanese Super Sentai franchise. He was such a frightening and nightmarish character when first introduced that in several episodes after his introduction, parents of younger viewers actually complained that he was "too evil" for the show;Linkara's History of the Power Rangers - season 1: MMPR season 2 this resulted in Zedd being toned down immensely (an action that has been heavily criticized by older fans, such as his marriage to Rita Repulsa, whom he earlier banished out of disgust, and soon after making the character (and his plans and monsters) more comedic. Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa have a son, Thrax, who appears in Operation Overdrive. Character history Before Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Lord Zedd was the self-proclaimed, all-powerful "Emperor of Evil" and "sworn enemy of all that is good and decent". Not much is known of his life before attacking the Earth, but several details emerged: * Over a period of time, he conquered a large portion of space. His distant conquests occupied his attention away from Earth for centuries at a time, which was why he ordered his subordinate (and future wife), Rita Repulsa, to conquer the blue planet. * He developed an intense rivalry with Count Dregon, the evil uncle of the Masked Rider, at some point in the past. (Dregon was introduced in third season at the same time as the Masked Rider, but never appeared again in the series. This information was summarily ignored after the introduction of Dregon and his nephew Dex, who was the Masked Rider, who would later appear in their own series, Saban's Masked Rider.) * He once made an attempt to claim the Zeo Crystal from the moon's Caves of Deception, but couldn't penetrate the forcefield. (After they were married, Rita joked that the forcefield scarred his face – prompting the need for his metal faceplate. Whether this actually happened or not is unclear.) * The moon palace that he occupied while attacking Earth was not built by him or his subordinates, but his evil did corrupt it. * He was a member of the United Alliance of Evil. ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' At the beginning of the second season, Lord Zedd arrived on the moon to resume command. Angered that Rita had failed to complete her mission, he demanded answers. Though seeing him as "the groveling one," Lord Zedd knew Goldar was loyal, so he restored his wings. As for Rita, he found that the six Power Rangers stood against her were "infants" and became enraged. (As often shown throughout the series, whenever really angry, he would glow bright red.) He stripped Rita of her powers and imprisoned her within a small "Space Dumpster." After sending her into space, Zedd unleashed his Z-Putties on the Rangers. He then created his first monster: Pirantishead, who took command of the Tyrannosauruszord and Dragonzord after freezing the other four Dinozords. Zordon – certain Zedd would one day threaten Earth directly – knew the Rangers would be outmatched without new Zords. After some difficulty, the five Rangers were able to acquire their Thunderzords and destroy Pirantishead, while Tommy Oliver retained the Dragonzord. Though enraged by this defeat, Zedd vowed to never give up. Like Pirantishead, Lord Zedd's monsters were created from objects on Earth with the power of his Z-Staff. Rather than using his staff to enlarge monsters (as Rita had done), he would make a grenade appear in his hand, that he would throw down at Earth. The monster (or monsters) would then catch the grenade, remove its pin and smash it to the ground. When it exploded, a vent of steam would make the monster grow. Lord Zedd's attacks on Earth gradually became more and more deadly. He focused particular attention on Tommy, who he saw as Rita's biggest mistake. The Green Ranger's powers had already been becoming progressively weaker, but Zedd's efforts enhanced the process. Eventually, he used Turbanshell and the Green Crystal to drain all of the Green Ranger powers. To that end, he created a team of evil Power Rangers (the Dark Rangers), de-powered the real Rangers and sealed off the Command Center. However, Tommy shattered the crystal – restoring everything to normal. Turbanshell was destroyed soon after, too, but Zedd had nonetheless succeeded in finally draining the Green Ranger of power. He later planned to make Tommy his successor by brainwashing him, but Zordon managed to get to Tommy first, making him the new White Ranger. He also once planned on turning Kimberly Hart into his queen after noticing her beauty and tenacity, but he in the end failed to turn her over to his side. Throughout this, Lord Zedd discovered that the Rangers were not the "mere infants" and "children" he'd initially thought. Just like Rita, he couldn't defeat them. Zedd eventually brought up the big guns - his personal Zord, Serpentera. This serpentine Zord was so massive that it could literally crush the Ranger's Zords underfoot (with the exception of Carrier Zord, Tor) and had the power to destroy whole planets. However, Serpentera's distinctive flaw was that it used up energy so quickly that it could only be used for short periods of time. For example, it used most of its power destroying the Deserted Planet (in a failed attempt by Zedd to kill the Rangers) and could barely function upon returning to Earth. Zedd continually attempted to find an infinite power source for Serpentera, but he always failed. Soon it came time for Zedd's Centennial Recharge to fully restore his evil energies. It was during this slumber that Rita returned to the palace. With Finster's help, Rita she regained her size and poured a love potion into the Centennial Recharge machine. When Zedd awoke, he instantly fell madly in love with Rita and proposed. While Zedd and Rita became far less serious and lighter figures after their marriage in The Wedding episode, they were still formidable opponents and the Rangers were now struggling to defeat both their foes combined. Zedd and Rita used multiple attempts involving clones of the Rangers and time-travel. Starting with the third season and continuing into Zeo, monsters were made to grow by Rita and Zedd crossing their staffs and combining energies. When Rita's brother, Rito Revolto arrived to offer the couple belated congratulations, Lord Zedd was infuriated. The skeleton warrior was extremely stupid, even constantly referring to Zedd as "Ed" (a reference to his bodysuit actor). Rito did bring the Tengas and destroy the Thunderzords, but those were about the only useful things he ever did. Rito refused to leave. The truth about Rita's love potion eventually came out in large part because of Rito and Goldar gave Zedd the antidote. Even though the antidote worked, to everyone's surprise, Zedd truly loved Rita. Late in the third season, Lord Zedd acquired the Shogunzords, as well as captured the Falconzord and Ninjor. By holding a powerless Kimberly hostage, he hoped to force the other Rangers to pilot the Zords (which were augmented by the Falconzord's technology and powered by Ninjor) in his service. When Tommy attempted to rescue her, Zedd personally battled him (the only time he ever fought a Ranger in hand-to-hand combat). Zedd was unsurprisingly powerful, and he even mocked Tommy ("Are those hi-yahs really necessary?"). However, Tommy used Saba to shatter Zedd's Z-Staff, forcing him to retreat. Billy had also managed to give the Rangers control of the Shogunzords, stealing them right out from under Zedd. When Master Vile arrived on the moon in his quest for the Zeo Crystal, Lord Zedd was pushed aside. Zedd had no respect for the older villain and vice-versa. (Master Vile even asked Rita, "You couldn't marry someone who had a skull?"). He was always glum at the prospects of Vile succeeding, but also always ready to upstage him whenever possible (such as when making Dischordia grow). When Vile unveiled his plan to use the Orb of Doom to reverse the Rangers' ages, Zedd mockingly pointed out, "I hate to be the one to break the news to you, 'Dad,' but we tried this once before and it didn't work then, either!" Much to Zedd's annoyance, however, the plan succeeded. ''Mighty Morphin Powers Rangers: The Movie'' Since the movie takes place out of continuity of the universe we are used to seeing, many changes have taken place. Rita (Julia Cortez) and Zedd (played by Los Angeles native Mark Ginther) seemed to have always been married. Zedd still is powerful, and can even open the hyperlock egg that traps Ivan Ooze, but is beaten back easily (along with Rita) and captured by Ivan Ooze. He once looked up to Ivan, proclaiming that it was a "supreme honor" to finally meet him after a 20-century search, but later calls him a "clown" when Ivan decides to take over. He and Rita end up uncharacteristically rooting for the Power Rangers when they go after and ultimately destroy Ooze, and he and Rita released afterwards. Zedd's appearance did not change much in the film. However, if one looks carefully, his brain can be seen pulsing, something that was not in the television show. His armor was not changed much, though it was slightly blue in color, and also included shoulder armor. The Z on his helm was placed slightly farther down on his helmet as well. ''Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers'' The Rangers had been turned to children due to Master Vile's Orb of Doom, and the older villain intended for an army of monsters to takeover Earth. The Aquitian Rangers stopped his plans, and he left in annoyance. Lord Zedd was overjoyed to be at last rid of his father-in-law (even to the point of dancing and kissing Goldar). He resumed his own efforts to conquer Earth, which was more vulnerable than ever with the Rangers' still regressed in age. Zedd and Rita even managed to destroy the Ninja Power Coins early on before Billy could restore everyone else's ages. Zedd found a map of a series of underground tunnels underneath the Command Center, pointing out a weak point. Aware of the Rangers' quest for the Zeo Sub-Crystals, he and Rita ordered Goldar and Rito in to plant a bomb and steal the reformed Zeo Crystal. They seemingly succeeded, as the Command Center was destroyed. ''Powers Rangers: Zeo'' During Zedd and Rita's victory celebration of "No more Power Rangers!", the Machine Empire arrived and attacked. Zedd, Rita and company were forced to retreat in Serpentera to the safety of the M51 Galaxy and Master Vile. Expressing massive humiliation, Zedd vowed to one day return and rule the galaxy. Zedd eventually secretly returned to the moon with Rita and Finster in a motorhome. He and Rita restored Goldar and Rito's memories (plus their swords and the former's wings) and brought them to the moon. After King Mondo was temporarily destroyed by the Super Zeo Megazord, Zedd and Rita began their efforts to become top villains again. Both sides clashed on several occasions, neither gaining much ground. Their most notable plan was attempting to take control of the Machine Empire via a puppet ruler, Louie Kaboom. Though Louie ultimately took over, Rito lost Louie's control mechanism and was free to do as he pleased. Louie was later destroyed and replaced via the machinations of Prince Gasket. Gasket later brainwashed and forced Tommy to battle Jason in an arena, which Zedd and company were at first entertained by. However, Zedd quickly realized that if the Rangers were indeed destroyed, the Machine Empire would conquer Earth and leave them with nothing. He had Finster covertly send the remaining Zeo Rangers to the arena to help overcome Gasket's plot. (Zedd loathed the idea of helping his most hated enemies, but he loathed the idea of the Machine Empire winning even more). When the Gold Ranger powers began to leave Jason, Lord Zedd and Rita made an attempt to claim them. This led to a face-to-face confrontation with the rebuilt King Mondo (which ultimately saw the Cogs and Tengas battling to an embarrassing tie). Faced with a stand-off, Zedd pretended to give up and leave, but he had a plan. After Mondo lost a battle to the Rangers, Zedd and Rita met up with the Royal Family on the moon. Zedd and Rita proceeded to make a faux truce with them, symbolized with a present. The present was a bomb, which destroyed the Machine Empire's Royal Family. Zedd laughingly proclaimed, "We're back!" This proved ironic, as after that episode, he and his team never directly threatened Earth again, and were almost constantly shown serving under other beings who were said to be more powerful and more evil than themselves if they appeared at all. Zedd's status as 'Emperor of all that is Evil' was essentially ignored as successive villains appeared after the end of Zeo. Like Master Vile, they were consistently stronger than he was. In-between his exile and return, Zedd also briefly appeared alongside Rita in Adam's dream in "It Came From Angel Grove." ''Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie'' Rita and Zedd made a small cameo appearance. Divatox calls them in the middle of the night to ask them how to destroy the Rangers. In a comical scene, Rita held the phone to a snoring Zedd, saying that if she knew how to stop the Rangers she wouldn't have to listen to that, and then told Divatox her advice was to run. ''Power Rangers: Turbo'' Lord Zedd and company were not shown attacking the Earth during this season. Their apparent disappearance was never explained or even referred to on-screen. Zedd, however, was shown alongside Rita and the other leading villains in the titular Millennial Message, which warned of a universal conquest by evil and predicted only one force could stop them. (This foreshadowed the next season). ''Power Rangers in Space'' Later, Zedd and Rita attended Dark Specter's conference on the Cimmerian Planet. Although they were distraught when they heard that Divatox had supposedly destroyed the Rangers, Zedd toasted to Dark Specter's eventual takeover of the universe. He attacked Andros with his staff, but the attempt was easily deflected by the Spiral Saber. Months later, Zedd and Rita joined the overall attack throughout the universe. Though Zedd felt his plans were preferable to Astronema's, he was fearful of Dark Specter and followed orders. Rita and Zedd invaded the Vica Galaxy and quickly conquered it, defeating and capturing the Gold Ranger in the process (Zedd gleefully exclaimed before it was over, "It's great to be back in the game!"). When Zordon's energy wave washed over them and their army, Zedd was spared, being turned into a normal human being apparently free of his former evil persona. Rita was later shown to ascend to a new plane of reality, becoming the Mystic Mother, the source of all good magic. Whatever became of Zedd was not revealed. ''Power Rangers: Overdrive'' In the anniversary team-up episode Once a Ranger it is revealed that Zedd had a son with Rita at an unspecified time (despite the apparent fact that she became frightened when he mentioned the thought of having children to her in one episode); the son, Thrax, was sealed in a space dumpster (similar to Rita's) by the Sentinel Knight. Thrax ultimately returned to seek revenge. Lord Zedd himself did not appear, but his change to the side of good was mentioned by Thrax, who also called him (along with his mother) weak for making such a decision. He vowed to restore his evil legacy and is seen using the staff that belonged to his father."Japanese magazine scan on Lord Zedd's Son in team up episode" In other media Comics Lord Zedd appeared as the main antagonist in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comics. In the Power Rangers: Zeo comic set during their exile, Lord Zedd and Rita attempted to use the Ninja Power Coins energy for an evil plot – leading to conflict with the Zeo Rangers and the Machine Empire (this storyline went unresolved, however).Atop the Fourth Wall: Linkara reviews Power Rangers: Zeo comic. ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Super Legends'' Lord Zedd appeared as a boss in the 15th anniversary video game for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2 and PC, this marks the first time Zedd has been featured in a game since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition. The home console versions of the game describes Zedd as having found a way of manipulating the time line in an attempt to eliminate the Rangers from history. His return to his original form is revealed that when he was purified, Zedd became an archaeologist and discovered a relic known as the Time Crystal. Despite the second chance he has received from Zordon's sacrifice, Zedd mourns the loss of his great power and influence through tyranny. Not being able to resist the temptation of looking back to whom he once was, Zedd observed his own past, but when his past self reached out to his future, he was able to corrupt the purified version of Zedd and restored his powers and original appearance. It does not make note of why he is no longer with Rita (the Mystic Mother) but does makes a reference to her; Goldar mentions he was given orders by her but Zedd appears and tells him to forget about her. This would complicate her reformation as the Mystic Mother. With the Time Crystal at his disposal, Zedd plays havoc with the timeline, and it takes a combined effort of various Rangers from the past, present, and future to defeat him. Zedd attempts to escape, but accidentally drops one of the Time Crystal when fleeing to a void outside of time. The Omega Ranger admits to his fellow Rangers that it may take Zedd eons to escape. The canocity of Power Rangers Super Legends is unclear. Powers and abilities Zedd displayed a number of powers throughout the series. When Zedd first appeared, he displayed the ability to teleport, as well as the power to transmute living creatures into inanimate objects when he transformed a snake into his staff, with which he performed the majority of his magical feats throughout the series, such as generating electrical blasts. He also created a new army of putties and restored Goldar's wings to him via the use of his staff shortly after his arrival on the moon. Zedd possessed a form of telescopic vision, which took the form of a red light which would emit from his eyes out towards Earth. In the series, whatever Zedd was seeing could be shown to the viewers, with the screen bathed in red light which would take the shape of the lens on Zedd's mask, showing that the audience was seeing things from Zedd's direct point of view. Zedd was capable of creating or summoning a small grenade which he would throw down to Earth to be caught by his monsters, who would then pull the pin and slam it to the ground, which caused the monsters increase in size, which would then force the Rangers to call upon their Zords in order to battle it. As the series progressed, this was eventually phased out, to be replaced by Zedd combining his powers with that of his wife Rita to enlarge the monsters. Although Zedd was only seen once in direct hand to hand combat, he proved superior to Tommy, who by that point had become the White Ranger, besting him at every turn. Zedd only retreated when Tommy used Saba to shatter his staff. (Though this indicates that Zedd is at least less powerful without his staff, why he chose to retreat was not entirely clear.) In his first appearance on the show, Zedd was referred to in the episode The Mutiny as being 'Rita's Lord and Master' by Zordon, although it is unknown at what point she came to be in his service. From this statement by Zordon and from the series' references to Rita having been trapped in a space dumpster for ten thousand years in the very first episode, it is implied to the viewers that Zedd himself has lived an extended life span, though both his and Rita's true ages are unknown and were never revealed during the course of the series. At some point he conquered at least one other galaxy, and also acquired the monstrously powerful Zord known as Serpentera. In the non-canonical Fighting Edition videogame, Zedd was a mid-to-long range fighter, attacking with his staff and magical blasts, and could also teleport, which allowed him to attack opponents from almost anywhere on the screen. Reception Lord Zedd is considered to be the greatest Power Rangers villain out of any season. Lord Zedd is also considered to be the most hideous (or at least one of them) due to having no skin thereby exposing his musculature system and his brain, part of a metal exoskeleton and having tubes that contain an unknown fluid that is flowed in and around his body. 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